Art Analysis: The London Underground

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London Underground – “Art On The Underground. For Everyone, Every Day”
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“Where there is life, there is art”, said Frank Pick in 1917. He was Managing Director of London Underground, not an artist. His approach, which is still alive today, turned the Underground into one of London’s most important patrons of the arts. Since 2000, major works can be found all over London with arts from Jacqueline Poncelet, Knut Henrik Henriksen, John Maine, and Daniel Buren. Some of these works are grand in size, like the Headquarters of the Underground at St. James Park Station, while other are much smaller, like the ‘labyrinth’ works of art, where you can find one small piece at every Tube Station. Some of these artworks are permanent while others only temporary, so no matter when you are using the London Underground you may be coming across never seen before new works of art.
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St. James Station – including the Historic Headquarters of London Underground

The cross-shapes plan has wings in the north, south, east, and west directions. Eight sculptures, two on each wing, are intended to reference the ‘Winds in Athens’ ancient Greek Tower. The two carved reliefs for each wind were done by Wyon, Aumonier, Gerrard, Rabinovitch, Gill, and Moore. There are two other sculptures on the building known as ‘Day’ and ‘Night’ by Epstein. They were heavily criticized in 1929 for being indecent. Epstein’s inspiration from ‘primitive’ art and carving directly into the façade of the building was later embraced later in the twentieth